Chapter 28E - On the Bridge of the Galactica

[Brie]

On the bridge of the Galactica Commander Apollo was pacing. Fixing the airlock was taking longer than he had expected. There was still nothing on the scanners, no sign of the Callisto or the fleet. It was the longest that the Galactica had been away from the fleet since they had fled the colonies.

Although he had walked several steps away, Apollo made it back to the comm as soon as he heard it crackle. “Commander, Sir,” the voice on the other end said, “the airlock is fixed. It’s a temporary solution, but it should hold up until we can get the right parts on the Forge Ship.”

“Thank you,” Apollo replied. He turned to Omega, who had also been pacing directly behind him. “How long until we’re at what was SUPPOSED to be our entry point in this system?”

“Ten centons,” Omega replied.

Apollo didn’t even miss a beat. “Alert the Blue Squadron patrol that they’re launching in 10 centons.”

“Yes, Sir.”

[Brie]

When the call came the two Blue Squadron pilots assigned the patrol were already in their vipers. Now there was three centons until they launched, but they had been ready for centars. They had lovingly checked their machines over when they first came out of the jump, and then again every centar, on the centar, since. Patience wasn’t something that most pilots were good at.

They hoped that they would find the fleet, and quickly. Although neither of them spoke it, they were both worried that nothing had turned up on the Galactica’s scanners. There was an unspoken dread spreading throughout the ship. Feeling it the most was Commander Apollo. As they sped towards their intended entry point he was growing increasingly concerned about how little was showing up on the scanners. The fleet had to be there soon...they just had to.

[Brie]

“Commander, we’re in position,” Rigel informed Apollo on the Galactica’s bridge.

“Good,” Apollo replied. “Give the order to launch.”

“Blue Squadron patrol,” Rigel said into her microphone, “launch when ready.”

Everyone on the bridge watched the monitors as two marks appeared, quickly going in the opposite direction. A collective sigh of relief was breathed. Suddenly, inexplicably, the two marks disappeared from the screen. “Frack!” Apollo said a little bit louder than he had intended.

“Commander,” Rigel said quickly, “we still have verbal contact. There must be something wrong with our scanners. They still have a clear fix on us.”

Apollo nodded, at least it wasn’t the worst possible scenario. “Tell them to make sure they keep us in sight. If they contact the fleet they are to return immediately.”

“Yes, Sir,” Rigel replied and conveyed the orders.

Apollo glanced around, noticing the overworked technician in the corner. “Get as many people as needed in here to fix these scanners. Now!”

At the wall near the door Major Pierce snuck away unnoticed, a smile crossing his face. It wouldn’t be much longer until the one blemish on his record was permanently removed.

[Brie]

The two pilots from Blue Squadron pushed ahead into space. “If we keep going we’re going to lose our fix on the Galactica,” one of them observed.

“You stay here, keeping your eyes on home,” the other suggested. “I’ll keep going, and I’ll keep you in my scanner. We’ll double our range, and still be able to look for the fleet. They’ve got to be out here somewhere.”

“Okay,” the first pilot replied, “but also stay aware of your fuel. The fleet doesn’t seem to be where they were supposed to enter, no telling how off their entry point was. Whoever did those calculations...”

“I’ll be back soon!” The second viper took off across space, hoping the fleet wasn’t too far off course.

[Brie]

The Blue Squadron pilot kept his eyes on his scanner. He needed to make sure his wingman stayed in sight, but every centon he would switch to all forward scan for a few microns to increase his range. He was getting frustrated, there didn’t seem to be anything out there.

Just as he was beginning to think about turning back a blip appeared on the edge of his screen. Then two blips. Then more blips than he could quickly count. He moved close enough to be able to check one of the ships. Colonial Movers. He let out a victory yell, he had found the fleet. He was slightly frustrated though because he couldn’t get very close without losing his fix on his wingman. He adjusted his comm unit and tried to contact the closest ship. All he received was electronic noise. He readjusted it but just picked up more static. If he didn’t know better he would think that he was purposely being jammed. “Probably just interference from something in this system,” he said out loud. He made note of the exact position of the fleet and returned to meet his partner with the good news.

[Brie]

The ecstatic pilot couldn’t wait to share his discovery with his wingman. Even though his fuel was running a little bit low, he kicked in his turbos. “I found them!” he said once they were in close communications range. “I’ll transmit the coordinates to you.” He pressed a few buttons and sent the information to his friend.

“Hurry up,” his wingman told him. “We’ve got to let the Commander know.”

“My fuel is too low to go turbos all the way,” the first pilot replied. “You go on ahead of me. I’ve got a fix on the Galactica as well. You know that Commander Apollo will want this information sooner rather than later.”

“Okay, but don’t take too long. I’ll meet you in the O’ Club, first round is on me!” Keeping one eye on rear scan, the Blue Squadron pilot hurried back to the Galactica with the fleet’s location.

[Brie]

“Commander,” Omega called, “one of the vipers has just reentered scanner range.”

“Good thing it’s working at least somewhat. Do you have audio contact?”

“We haven’t tried yet,” Omega said sheepishly.

“Then try!” Apollo half suggested, half ordered.

“Incoming viper pilot, do you copy?” Omega asked into his comm. “This is the Battlestar Galactica.”

“Galactica, I copy,” the voice on the other end replied. “I have the coordinates to the fleet.”

“Thank the Lords,” Omega mumbled. “Where’s your wing?”

“He’s coming,” the pilot informed him. “I stayed behind to double our range, so I have more fuel than he does. I thought you guys would want to know about the fleet as soon as possible.”

“You’re right,” Omega replied. “Report as soon as you land.”

“I’ll see you in a few,” the pilot said. “Blue Squadron, out.”

On hearing that the fleet had been discovered, a loud cheer resounded throughout the mighty Battlestar Galactica.

[Brie]

The first pilot landed and reported immediately to the bridge. He was joined a few centons later by the second pilot. They gave their report, filled everyone in on the location of the fleet and the electrical interference which was probably why the fleet hadn’t picked up their patrol.

The order to prepare to launch was given to both the shuttle pilots and Black Squadron. They would be launching in less than a centar.

[Brie]

Not too long after the shuttle had launched and left the Galactica’s temporarily limited scanner range, there was an explosion. It wasn’t large, it wasn’t felt by most of the people on the ship. It was bad enough, though, that an already exhausted technician knew that he wouldn’t be getting off work anytime soon. He and his fellow workers drew cards from a Pyramid deck, and he lost. The responsibility to tell Commander Apollo fell upon his shoulders. He made video contact with the bridge. He had been tempted to just use voice contact, but maybe if Apollo saw how tired he was he wouldn’t be quite so upset. “Commander?”

“What’s wrong now?” Apollo asked on the other end.

“Remember when we rerouted the power?” the tech asked. “Well, Sir, there’s been an explosion. The airlock is closed up tight again. We’ll be able to fix it, but it will be a couple of centars.”

“How did this happen?” Apollo asked.

“If I didn’t know better, Sir, I would think that someone messed with it on purpose. It was probably just human error, though. Someone who is overtired and overworked.”

Apollo thought for a micron. “Just do you best, fix it as soon as possible,” he said. “Command Apollo out.”